Annular hearth oven



Nov. 30 1926.

v 1,608,597 E. w. HARTMAN ANNULAR HEARTH' OVEN FiIe'd Nov 20." 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY 7 Nov. 30 1926.

1,608,597 E. w. HARTMAN- ANNULAR HEARTH OVEN Filed Nov. 20. 1924;

5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEY". v

E. w. HARTMAN ANNULAR HE A RTH OVEN Nov. 30, 19261 Filed Nov 20, 1924 5 sheets-sheep 4 INVENTOR.

Nov. so, 1926.

E. W. HARTMAN,

ANNUIJAR HEARTH OVEN-- Fil ed Nov. 20, 1924 5 sheet s-Sheet 5 5 INVENTOR. W

Patented Nov. 30, l drl d.

PATENT OFFICE.

EMANUEL HARTMAN, F OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR '10 HARIMAN IN- v TERESTS INCL, 0F LUS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPOBATIUN OF NEVADA ANNULAR rrnan'rrr oven.

Application filed November 20, 1924. Serial No. 751,022.

My invention relates to an apparatus for extracting gas, .from bituminous materlal principally in the form of shale or srmllar rock formation, and relates particularly to that type of apparatus in which the bituminous material is kept contmuously (llS- turbed as it is urged forward during its progressthrough the apparatus.

In apparatus. of this character hereto fore constructed the heating medium has been brought into direct contact w th the bituminous material causing the material to clog and form a coalescent mass thereby materially interfering with the eflicient op-- 1 eration of the apparatus.

The principal object of my invention is to provide'a' gas extracting apparatus in which .the heating medium does not come into direct contact with the material being treated.

Another object of my inventionis to provide a gas extracting device embodying a plurality of heating decks iawhich the temperature of the heat supplied to each of the decks may be separately controlled.

I attain the above objects by the novel construction of my gas extracting apparatus, and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in th'e subjoined" description of the accompanying five sheets Fig. 5 s a plan of the agitator.

Fig. 6 1s 'a view in detail of a portion of the first deck section, and the agitator is" shown positioned and in vertical section.

Fig. 7 .is a diagrammatic plan of the retort to chiefly show the relative position of the steam pipes and the. staggeredposition of the deck openings with respect to'each other. The rectangle is the inlet for the material and the outlet is in alignment therewith.

Fig. 8 is a plan in reduced scale of the view shown in Fig. 1 and turned 180 degrees. the trap being removed from the chute in order to show the o ening in the cover plate of the retort. The ieater is shown in hcirizontal section and a complete steam pipe unit leads therefrom to the first deck of the retort. i

Referring now to the drawings more specifically', 10 indicates a gas extracting retort constructed in accordance with my invennected to a heater 12 by means of a steam pipe system hereinafter more fully described.

Said retort'includes a plurality of steam chamber units 13 disposed one above another and rigidly secured together. Each of. said steam chamber units comprises an upper circular deck plate 14 centrally bored and secured at its outer edge to an annular flange 15 of a cast ring section 16. A lower plate 17 similar in shape to said deck plate 14 is spaced therefrom, and secured at the outer edge to said ring section 16 near the flange 15, and at its inner edge to the upper deck plate by means offa. cylindrical plate 18 which extends slightly above the deck plate.

To permit bituminous material to pass from one deck to another, each of said plates 14 and 17 is cut away to form an opening l9 extending from the ring section 16 to the cylindrical'plate 18; the said opening is sealed by means of the depending partition walls 20,'forming therebya steam tight chamber, Figs. 3 and 1.

A vertical shaft 21 extends centrally through the retort and is mounted at its lower end in bearings 22 and at its upper end in bearings 23. Said shaft is geared at its lower end to any suitable power means whereby it may be rotated.

Mounted on the said shaft one above .another are a plurality of agitators 2 10f wheel like construction. Each of said agitators comprises an outer ring member 25 and an inner ring member 26 rigidly secured to a central boss 27 by means of arms 28. A plurality of vertically disposed plates 29 are connected. to and between said inner and outer ring members so as to divide said agitator into sections. The agitators are so. constructed and positioned within the retort as to provide one agitator for each deck, the lower edge of each plate 29 being tion mounted on the .base 11, and is conpasses into the retort. A trap 33 of wheel like construction comprising armmembers 5 34 secured to a central boss 35, is rotatably mounted on a shaft 36 in said chute and pisgvents the escape of gas from the retort through the chute.

A similarly shaped chute 37 and trap is secured to and below the bottom plate 38 of the retort, whereby the refuse and spent material is removed from the retort.

Any suitable mechanical means may be used for rotating the traps 33 and 37, but

it has been found preferable if both traps are made of equal size to gear the lowertrap 37 so as to revolve faster than the upper-trap 33, so as to allow the spent material to pass out faster than the untreated material enters the retort, otherwise clogging might result. Y

The cover is centrally provided with a funnel outlet 38 disposed in line with and above the central openings formed in the steam chamber units 13' and through which funnel outlet collects and passes the gases from the bituminous material to a condenser (not shown).

Referring now to the means for heating the bituminous material and particularly to Fig. 3 which shows the path of travel of the steam through a steam chamber unit, and to Fig' 8 which shows the path of travel of the steam throughthe complete apparatus, a manifold 39 is connected between the retort 10 and -the heater 12, and is provided with a plurality of steam pipes 40 leading through the heater and to the steam-chambers, one steam pipe to each chamber. A plurality of return steam pipes'41 connect the steam chambers with a similar manifold 39'. The direction of the steam through the steam chambers 13 is shown in Fig. 3 by the arrows; the steam enters through pipe 40 at one side adjacent opening 19 and passes around the chamber and out pipe 41 adjacent the other side of the opening and returned to the manifold 39 and through the heater 12 where it is reheated and continues again through the apparatus.

'As is shown in Figs. 1 and 8, my improved gas-extracting apparatus has the heating means 12 located at a distance from the retort 10. By this arrangement I avoid the liability to overheat the bituminous material during its agitation andtravelover and through the decks, a liability arising in other constructions of retorts, in which the heating means is located virtually directly below the meansfor agitating the bituminous material.

A booster 42 of any suitable construction embodying a fan 43 may be inserted'in the steam line between the manifolds to assist the circulation of the steam which is preferably kept at low pressure though high temperature.

through the various deck openings to the discharge chute 37. In this manner the bi tuminous material is continually disturbed and thoroughlyqexposed .to the heat of the retort and simultaneously reduced.

As' many of'the heavier gases given off by the bituminous material have a tendency to. collect in the lower part of the retort, I prefer to supply the lower decks with a small steam pipe 44 for periodically passing high pressure saturated steam over the decks for It will be seen from Fig. 7 that the steam driving off these gases through the retort and out.

' In Fig. 1, I have shown a number of temperature registry devices 45, which are connected oneto each deck, and also a water supply pipe 46 leadingto the manifold 39 for supplying water to the heating system.

To shut ofl or regulate the temperature.

of the steam supplied to any of the steam chambers 13 in case of -leakage or other reasons, I provide each steam pipe unit with a valve 47 at the intake and a valve/18 at the outlet of each of the steam chambers 13. In my preferred construction I provide the retort 10, the bottom plate 38 and the steam pipes with a covering of asbestos 49 or other heat retaining medium.

Other parts shown in the drawings but not specifically referred to, are ordinary structural parts and need no description.

Obviously many changes may be made in my apparatus without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I do not wish to be limited to the exact construction shown but claim as my invention all forms readable on the allowed claim to this application.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is v v In an apparatus of thecharacter described, the combination of a gas-extractmg retort having therein a purality of fixed, cylindrical,steam-tight chambers dis-t posed one above another and spaced apart,

the upper surface of each chamber forming a deck adapted to receive thereon bituminous material, and each of said chambers being provided with an opening therethrough formed by partition walls in the chamber extending to the upper and the lower surfaces and to the inside surfaces of the side walls ofvthe chamber; an agitator rotatably mounted on a vertical shaft above each deck in said retort for passing the bituminous materialover and' through the deck; and steam-generating means spaced at a distance from the retort and di rectly connected with each chamber in order to generate and supply steam to and through eachcha1nber,the steam entering each chamber at the side of one of said partition walls and passing out at the side of the other partition wall and the steamy inlet to each of the chambers having means for separately cont-rolling the steam.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

EMANUEL W. HARTMAN. 

